Ravens adding veteran TE Ben Watson

Posted by Zac Jackson on March 8, 2016, 3:09 PM EST

AP

Veteran tight end Ben Watson will leave the Saints and sign with the Ravens when the free agent market opens Wednesday, per multiple reports.

Watson has played 12 NFL seasons and has only missed one game in the last four. He caught a career-best 74 passes last season for the Saints and should fit the Ravens nicely both as a target for quarterback Joe Flacco and as a mentor for young tight ends Crockett Gillmore and Maxx Williams.

Watson knows the AFC North well. He played for the Browns from 2010-12 before joining the Saints.

Watson, 35, entered the league as a first-round pick of the Patriots in 2004. He has 38 career touchdown receptions and his six touchdowns last season matched his career high set in 2007 with the Patriots. For his career, Watson has 434 receptions for 4,963 yards.

smh, i liked watson a lot, and i like flacco but its a terrible fit.
Watson cant take the hits flacco sets his tight ends up for anymore. hes 35.
brees was finding this quick dude in space, it aint gonna be like that n balti.
smh, shocking move

commenter says:Mar 8, 2016 3:33 PM

He’ll be an outstanding mentor for Baltimore’s young tight ends. Quality signing.

crownofthehelmet says:Mar 8, 2016 3:34 PM

Not only did the Steelers bait and dupe the ravens into taking Maxx by leaking the falsehood they were interested in him, he was such a bad pick the ravens have to spend more resources on a 35yr old has-been. Genius.

patsbrat says:Mar 8, 2016 3:36 PM

Watson played well for the Pats for a number of years, but what I will always remember about him is what a great man he is over and above his accomplishments as a player. What he wrote after the Ferguson shooting will always stick with me.

bassplucker says:Mar 8, 2016 3:43 PM

So much for the Bears trading Martellus Bennett to reunite with Trestman I guess. At his age Watson isn’t close to the player Bennett is but he’s not half the headache, either.

As for the Bears, it looks like they’ll either grit their teeth with each other for one more season or Pace will cut Marty outright.

ikeclanton says:Mar 8, 2016 3:45 PM

I’m surprised he caught 74 balls last year. When he was in New England, he used to drop too many. It seems like he’s the type of guy not letting his age dictate what he can and can’t do though. Always one of the smartest and dedicated guys on the team.

I don’t know if Flacco is the QB that best fits him, but we’ll see.

TebowedOutOfThePostSeasonAndNeverToReturn says:Mar 8, 2016 3:51 PM

Even a blind hog can find an acorn but Colbert got beat again. First he loses Maxx Williams, now Watson. Maybe he can beg Miller back from retirement.😦

Best of luck to you with the rest of your career Ben. It was a great run with the Saints and you will be a huge loss in the locker room, on the field, and in the community. You definitely should have won the Walter Payton award this year instead of Boldin.

Even a blind hog can find an acorn but Colbert got beat again. First he loses Maxx Williams, now Watson. Maybe he can beg Miller back from retirement.😦

Good luck with grandpa at Tight End who may be a good guy but him and Smith together will make
everyone else look like real Cheetahs( not Pats). What’s with thinking the Steelers would waste a pick on Williams…. You went to Tarot reader right? Very scientific.
The Ravens need major help as they circle the bowl for another 4-12 finish. Yes Ozzie has another Titanic size plan to reflate the criminals.🤑

crownofthehelmet says:Mar 8, 2016 4:12 PM

Hope he can master the 2yd check down route. If so he’ll have 300 catches this year.

Unfortunately, adding one high character person to the Ravens won’t cancel out their roster full of felons.

jonwill57 says:Mar 8, 2016 4:33 PM

@bassplucker says:
Mar 8, 2016 3:43 PM

So much for the Bears trading Martellus Bennett to reunite with Trestman I guess. At his age Watson isn’t close to the player Bennett is but he’s not half the headache, either.

As for the Bears, it looks like they’ll either grit their teeth with each other for one more season or Pace will cut Marty outright.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Bennett will go to Saints, if the Bears trade him.

So much for the Bears trading Martellus Bennett to reunite with Trestman I guess. At his age Watson isn’t close to the player Bennett is but he’s not half the headache, either.

As for the Bears, it looks like they’ll either grit their teeth with each other for one more season or Pace will cut Marty outright.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Bennett will go to Saints, if the Bears trade him.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I can only hope your wrong about that. We got rid of one diva TE and there is absolutely no need to trade for another one. I actually hope they try to sign Ladarius Green on the cheap. Drew will make him shine like he does for most.

Baltimore needs all the TEs they can get. Their WRs corp is atrocious. Ozzie should take some notes from Colbert on how to draft them

TebowedOutOfThePostSeasonAndNeverToReturn says:Mar 8, 2016 5:06 PM

All the Steeler hate is delicious. You are terrified of us. This is why you troll every word. We get it. :0

williamshatnerstoupee says:Mar 8, 2016 5:06 PM

Another terrible signing by the team that wears the purple and black. The offseason gets worse by the day for this team. 3-13 record in 2016. Cellar dwellers. Our young friend who is obsessed with the quarterback from down south and the team that wears the black and gold takes another hit to the gut.

Wow! A lot of Steeler troll hate these past few days. You guys really need to calm down. Your Mothers will be bringing your chipped ham sandwiches down to you any time now.

williamshatnerstoupee says:Mar 8, 2016 6:05 PM

Our young friend who is obsessed with that quarterback from down south and the team that wears the black and gold loves ham sandwiches. One must be saved for him. Comfort food while thinking about the disaster of a season soon to unfold for the team that wears the purple and black.

Watson and Sproles are two players the Saints should have kept on the roster. Not a huge blow though. The Saints won a championship with Shockey on one leg. Having a top 2 offense every year with no defense has proved to be a formula for failure. Money needs to be saved for defensive linemen who can get after it.

Good signing considering Gillmore is recovering from two surgeries and Boyle was dumb enough to fail a second drug test. And face it, that’s the biggest reason he was signed Steeler trolls, not because Colbert “baited” the Ravens into taking Maxx Williams, etc. At least learn to make fun of the right things like Boyle being an idiot. Seeing as one of the best TE of the last twenty years just retired on your team leaving you with the less cool Jesse James, sounds like the Steelers were the ones slow on the draw on the scenario.

One reason I’m sure he’s no longer a Saints player is because of Drew Brees’ insane contract. They pretty much need to cut the entire team just to keep Drew and his bloated contract. These QB contracts are TEAM KILLERS!

Unfortunately, I’m sure more players will be sacrificed for the QB before this free agency period is over. I volunteer Mark Ingram’s departure and sign Matt Forte as his replacement. He’s a local product with a whole lotta game left in him, but that won’t happen because Sean Payton and Mickey Loomis doesn’t want to admit Ingram ain’t what we thought he was. One good season, overrated player. Khiry
Robinson is far superior, but he was not a number one pick. SMH!

sb44champs says:Mar 9, 2016 3:33 PM

Khiry Robinson is far superior, but he was not a number one pick
========================
Ingram is 10X’s better than KRob at catching out the backfield and pass protection. KRob is the better pure runner but went down with what some may consider a possible career ender. At the end of the day, I want the fresh, non-injured back that can block with the best of them…..Ingram

dontstabmeray says:Mar 10, 2016 12:02 PM

He’s 35 years old. Wow. He should be good for a year of jump balls. This is what the Ravens have become.